


Summer Equinox Ball

by regretful_insomnimaniac



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Jealousy, Other, Pining, Post Season 1, Slow burn i guess?, Tags to be added, also is this fandom dead yet?, also slightly ooc haruhi, can be read as one shots until a certain point, first chapter is more haruhi/twins-centric but im gonna do everyone, in which haruhi slightly knows everyone likes her, is rarepair hell a thing if an anime is a reverse harem, nonbinary haruhi who is okay with whatever pronouns, self-indulgent fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 09:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11310672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regretful_insomnimaniac/pseuds/regretful_insomnimaniac
Summary: A fic where everyone wants to take Haruhi to an upcoming dance, but with another competition added just for the hell of it





	Summer Equinox Ball

“When’s the Summer Equinox Ball again?” one of the girls lounging in Music Room 3 chattered.

“September 22nd. Aren’t you excited?” another girl said, glancing over at Hani for his opinion too.

“Yeah!” he said, smiling widely. “It’s supposed to be the biggest event of the year! I hope to see you ladies there!” Mori grunted in agreement. Haruhi shook her head; she didn’t understand all the excitement about another dance.

Almost as if he were reading her thoughts, Kyoya chimed in next to her,“It’s no ordinary dance. It marks the end of the school year and actually raises quite a profit just from tickets alone for the school.” Haruhi just sighed and watched as Tamaki excitedly invited another group of girls to the dance and the twins fawned over each other for the Host Club attendees’ benefit.

“It isn’t necessary for me to go… is it?” Haruhi asked Kyoya, only half hopeful. He nodded, not even bothering to give a reason, but smiled slightly at her.

“The twins are probably designing something for you to wear to the ball,” he said, catching the gazes of the Hitachiins. Haruhi blinked at him. He seemed particularly amused.

“Oh, Haruhi! Are you going to the ball?” Tamaki asked as he bounded up to them, a phantom tail practically wagging.

“I don’t have a choice, Tamaki-sempai,” she grumbled.

“Don’t sound so disappointed! Oh I know! I’ll pick out the perfect dress for you!” he announced, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. The twin appeared on either side of Haruhi, shaking their heads disapprovingly and smirking.

“Nuh-uh,” they said in unison. “We’re making her the perfect dress.”

“And that means-” Kaoru started.

“We get to spend extra time with her taking measurements and helping her try on cloooothes,” Hikaru finished, his smirk only growing. Haruhi wasn’t surprised to hear they were going to make her wear a dress. The students now knew she was a girl and she still worked at the Host Club even though her debt was paid. She had even pulled in some new business, even though she still wore the male uniform.

Tamaki yelled in anguish and started accusing them of being perverts. Haruhi sighed again.

 

“Hey, since you’re going to the dance, would you wanna go as our date?” the twins asked her as they walked out of the school, each with an arm around her waist. “It’ll be funnn.”

“Why? Do you just want to set off Tamaki?”

“Well, it is a perk-” Kaoru said.

“But we really want you to come with us,” Hikaru said, grinning.

“We promise we’ll make it fun for you!” they said again.

Haruhi paused. “Let me think about it,” she finally said. The twins smiled broadly and each planted a kiss on Haruhi’s cheeks.

 

“What do we have to do to convince her?” Kaoru mused softly as they each made slight adjustments to dresses that they already knew Haruhi’s exact measurements for.

“Maybe some elaborate gesture?  No, I don’t think she’d go for that,” Hikaru said, answering himself, frowning.

“We just have to get her to agree before any of the others ask her.”

“Ugh and those other boys in her class are falling over themselves for her,” Hikaru sneered. Kaoru didn’t say anything. “It’s getting really annoying.”

“You’re not wrong,” Kaoru replied, his gaze on the lingering bitterness on his brother’s face. “You’re not wrong.”

 

In class, both the twins poked Haruhi in the sides with their pencils. “If you go the dance with us, we’ll take you out to dinner first.” Haruhi glanced at them. “We know a really nice sushi place.” She glanced away again sheepishly and her face reddened.

“I don’t know… I probably won’t have the money for it,” she responded.

They grinned. “You’re so cute! We would pay, silly.” When she started to protest, they continued,“It’s the right thing to do if you were our date after all.”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled again.

“Haruhi, come onnn,” they crooned into her ears as they leaned across the aisle. Their teacher was inattentive as he scribbled notes on the whiteboard, his voice droning on in a watery monotone. Their breath tickled on her neck, and even though they did this sort of stuff on a daily basis, it flustered her.

And she noticed that Hikaru smelled a bit more like soap and rain while Kaoru smelled like strawberries.

“Wouldn’t it be fun if me and Takashi went to the ball with Haru-chan?” Hani beamed, bouncing a little on his heels. Mori hesitated and then nodded.

Kyoya subtly cocked his head. “I didn’t know you had an interest in her,” he said as Tamaki looked seconds away from yelling. For Kyoya to not have a guess at it was surprising. The twins cocked their heads too.

“What would what you say about a… friendly competition?” the twins asked.

“Oh, no. Whatever you are about to say is _unacceptable_ ,” Tamaki protested breathlessly, glaring at the other hosts and then gaping at Kyoya. “Mommy, do something about this!”

Kyoya flat-out ignored him and turned to the twins again. “I suppose there will be a prize of some sort?” Tamaki wailed in the background. Matching cheshire grins curled onto the twins’ faces and they nodded. “We know you have something to sweeten the pot too, Kyoya-senpai.”

“What’s yours?” he asked instead of answering, his cold eyes leaving no room to argue.

“Whoever wins gets to take her in this dress,” they said, displaying a picture of designs on Kaoru’s phone. Then their smirks turned downright sinful. “And anyone who most finds out what turns Haruhi on gets Kyoya’s prize.” The aforementioned host didn’t even look shocked at the new development as he pulled out a thick portfolio, edges of photographs poking out of the sides. Tamaki had fainted and laid sprawled out one of the couches. The other hosts gathered around Kyoya in awe and surprise as they were granted a glimpse of many photos of Haruhi before cutting her hair. Kyoya closed the folder in seconds and smirked at them.

“The winner of _that_ competition gets copies of these pictures,” he said, eyes glinting behind his glasses. None of them missed the word “copies.” With how competitive Kyoya could tend to be, he might participate just to beat the other hosts if he already had his own copies.

“C-can I see?” came Tamaki’s whispered question from the couch, blinking bleariness out of his eyes. Kyoya permitted him a glance and held the folder above his head before Tamaki could grab it from him. Tamaki would enter the competition too, if only to keep the pictures away from the rest of them. Kyoya had his own reasons for participating besides not letting that fool win, of course.

 

During lunch the next day, the twins had managed to convince Haruhi to eat with them in the lunchroom.

“I don’t get why it matters, but okay,” she had said while shrugging.

“So, Haruhi, are you coming over tonight to try on our designs?” the twins asked, looping their arms around her neck and waist while she tried to eat her packed lunch.

“Hmm, I suppose. I was going to go grocery shopping  tonight but it can wait,” she answered.

“Yay!” they cheered, wrapping their arms tighter around her. Haruhi blinked. The twins were being more touchy than usual today. More clingy.

Hani plopped down next to them almost out of nowhere, Mori tailing him. “Hi, Haru-chan!” he beamed, pushing forward a plate with a slice of cake to her. “I brought you something.”

“Aw, that’s sweet Hani-senpai,” Haruhi said, smiling. What nobody mentioned was the not-so-sweet way Hani had seemed so excited to win the competition- both competitions. The twins groaned inwardly for not thinking to bring Haruhi something, tightening their arms around her more. Her eyebrows furrowed at the twins’ behavior.

Mori piped up from Hani’s side. “I remembered you said you like strawberries,” he said as he placed a fresh strawberry on top of the cake.

“Thanks, Mori,” Haruhi said, smiling again. The twins sunk lower in their seats and looked at each other from around Haruhi.

 _We gotta charm the_ hell _out of her._

Their mood wasn’t improved when some boy from their class came over nervously to stand in front of Haruhi, fiddling with his hands behind his back.

“Um, hi, Haruhi,” the boy stuttered out, eyes shifting between her and the twins draped all over her.

“Oh hello, uh…” she started and smiled apologetically when she couldn’t remember his name.

“Riku,” he offered, forcing a smile. He didn’t notice how the hosts at the table stiffened. Or maybe he did, and it made him that much more nervous. Hikaru and Kaoru didn’t bother to know him. From his vantage point, Hikaru could see the roses clutched behind Riku’s back and he bristled.

“Oh yeah, sorry!” Haruhi said with her trademark Host Smile and the boy reddened even further.

“It’s o-okay. I was wondering if you would want to go to the dance with me?” he sputtered, thrusting the bouquet of roses towards her. “I know that-”

Hikaru spoke before the other boy even had a chance to, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “No way she’s going with you. Kaoru and I already asked her and she agreed,” he bit out, glaring at him before kissing Haruhi under her ear. He didn’t miss the slight shiver she tried to hide and Kaoru noticed too, a flicker of smugness flashing in his eyes. Hani and Mori stayed quiet, if only so Riku would leave.

“Oh… well I bought these for you and I still want you to have them,” Riku tried again and left the roses on the table, walking away before anyone could protest.

Haruhi just stared at the slightly crumpled flowers, unmoving between the twins’ arms. “Why’d you tell him that?” she finally asked, eyebrows pushed together in confusion. “I didn’t agree yet.”

Hani and Mori both noticed the word _yet_.

Hikaru shrugged. “I figured you would eventually, and besides, you don’t even know the guy.” He threw in an faux innocent grin for good measure.

She scoffed. “You don’t know that.”

And then all was back to normal, except the red roses the other hosts kept looking at.

 

Haruhi looked up at the Hitachiin mansion and it struck her that she hadn’t been there yet, even though the twins were practically her best friends. A pair of matching maids were stationed by the doors to meet her and they called up to the twins to tell them their friend was here.

She immediately heard a cacophony of yelling and a thud hitting the floor above her head, and moments later the twins dashed down an elegant staircase in pajamas and leaped at her.

“You came!” they sang, pulling her into an impromptu, three-person dance that mostly consisted of both of them holding one of her hands and spinning erratically.

“Okay, okay, you can stop now,” she huffed, smiling despite herself. They begrudgingly stopped spinning and instead tugged her upstairs to their room, their hands still clasped with hers’. She let them drag her into the room without protest and stood slightly disoriented when the twins had already procured a tape measure and were wrapping it around her waist. Hikaru tugged her closer with the tape measure, winked, and then it was a flurry of motion again as measurements were checked and perfected. Finally, the motion ceased until Haruhi was just standing in the center of their room, dizzy from the whirlwind of poking and prodding.

“We got the measurements right,” Kaoru said to his twin.

“So we’ll probably only have to make slight adjustments at the most,” Hikaru said.

They turned to her. “Now strip,” they demanded.

“Wait- hold on, at least turn around,” she demanded back, crossing her arms to play off the slight dusting of pink on her cheeks.

The twins rolled their eyes. “We’re not going to make a move on you or anything, we just need to get you into the dresses. It’ll be faster if you trust us.”

She blinked at their succinctness and efficiency in their tones. They were the heirs to a fashion empire after all; it figured that they would know what they were doing. She hesitated and then removed her tie, placing it on the bed. When Haruhi started unbuttoning her shirt, they let their eyes linger on the bare skin of her neck for a heartbeat and then hurriedly launched into motion again. By the time she was down to her underwear, the twins were already holding up the first dress, one made of blue, soft ruffles. It wasn’t end-of-the-year dance-worthy in their eyes, but it was a good model to see how their measurements fit on her for that style. She tried on several dresses until the twins got out the one they really hoped she liked. She didn’t mention how their hands and eyes lingered on her longer than necessary during the entire process.

They brought it out from their huge closet and Haruhi knew it was the one they expected her to wear.

And to be honest, she didn’t think she’d really mind it. It was tasteful and beautiful and made of soft pinks and rose colors. Every seam seemed to be stitched perfectly.

“Did you two… actually make this?” she asked as they helped her carefully step into it.

They nodded and Kaoru spoke. “We could’ve just made the design and gave it and your measurements to someone else to make it, but we just prefer doing it ourselves.” Hikaru just nodded again as he pulled up the zipper carefully and fluffed out the dress and her hair a bit.

“...So do you like it?” Hikaru asked, his voice wavering a bit with nervousness, covering it up with a well-placed smirk.

“Yeah, I really do,” Haruhi said, smiling at the twins. Their smiles took over their entire faces as they fluttered around her, poking and prodding for any flaws they might’ve missed. They finally decided it was indeed flawless and helped her remove it.

When Haruhi was dressed again, sans the tie still crumpled up on the bed, they dragged her onto the bed and turned on the TV, a movie just starting. “You should stay the night,” they told herm both shifting to lay on her.

“But I’ve already been gone long enough and my dad will start to worry-”

“We may or may not have already called your dad and said you were spending the night,” they admitted, wrapping their arms around and underneath while she laid on her stomach. She could tell they weren’t going to pay attention to the movie.

And sure enough, not even ten minutes later, the twins started to fidget.

“What did you do with the roses?” Hikaru asked just as Kaoru opened his mouth to say something different. Haruhi shifted beneath the two of them to get more comfortable, propping her chin on a hand as she watched the movie. It wasn’t good, but it was funny in how bad it was. “I gave them to my dad, but he freaked out about it before. He put them in a vase after he calmed down though.”

Hikaru grimaced. Did Haruhi’s dad freak out because a boy he didn’t know asked Haruhi out? Or that any boy asked her out at all? Kaoru watched as Hikaru’s mouth downturned.

So Kaoru did something to distract him.

From his position on top of her, Kaoru murmured into her ear,“We noticed you had a bit of a reaction when Hikaru did _this._ ” Kaoru placed a closed-mouth kiss under Haruhi’s ear. Before she could react, he nipped at her earlobe. She shivered and her face turned _red_. Kaoru watched as Hikaru smirked.

“Stop doing that,” she said, wiggling away from Kaoru and consequently closer to Hikaru. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the movie?” Even though it is quite horrible, she didn’t bother adding.

“It’s getting boring,” Hikaru said and nipped on her other ear. She was bright red and the only thing she could do was try to awkwardly slither backwards. “You’re more interesting.”

“If you don’t cut it out, I’m going to leave,” Haruhi grumbled halfheartedly, her face flaring red again- it wasn’t helped when they began crooning in her ears about how adorable she was while petting her hair. That she didn’t mind as much honestly; she couldn’t remember the last time someone had played with her hair. Hikaru and Kaoru settled around her again, playing with strands of her hair while she tried to watch the movie.

And quickly fell asleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night, limbs tangled with the twins’, Hikaru’s head resting on her stomach and Kaoru’s legs draped over hers’. Weak moonlight shined in spots on the floor through a window that took up almost the entire wall. She looked down at the twins and sighed, a fond edge to the exasperation; there was no way she would be able to get up without waking both of them up.

Shifting minimally, Haruhi turned to look through the window, remnants of sleep blurring her vision softly. Hikaru blinked awake and looked up at her from her stomach. “Why are you up?” he murmured, poking her hip gently. She shrugged just enough so it was noticeable and turned to look at him, moonlight in her eyes.

“Just thinking, I guess,” she whispered, and on a whim, threaded her fingers through Hikaru’s bed-head.

“W-what are you doing?” he stuttered, immediately flustered. She just flashed him an imitation of his smirk and twisted his hair between her fingertips as she looked back at the window.

After a few minutes of silence he had calmed down, clearing his throat softly. “What were you thinking about?” he asked cautiously, readjusting his head on her stomach but careful not to disturb her hand in his hair.

“Well, I’ve noticed something,” she said and then paused, looking down at him again, her short hair messily framing her face, wisps of starlight fading in her eyes. She’s beautiful, he thought helplessly. “You two haven’t been treating me as much as a ‘toy anymore, but moreso a…” she murmured, pausing again as she contemplated. “...an actual friend? I don’t know, but it’s different.”

He stared at her and she took that as encouragement to keep going.

“You two have been my friends for a while though, my best friends. I trust you guys,” she admitted, not looking at the twin staring at her with his mouth gaping open.

“We trust you too,” Hikaru finally said, gingerly wrapping his arms around her midsection and looking away. He could sense that wasn’t all that was on her mind, but he wouldn’t push her.

“I know,” she breathlessly laughed, beaming down at him and scratching his scalp lightly, short nails caressing his head.

Hikaru almost purred with the constant affection.

“Go back to sleep, Hikaru,” Haruhi said, her fingers not stilling. Every time she called them by their individual names, their eyes filled with warmth and something else she couldn’t identify.

He shifted a few more times and poked Haruhi's belly with his nose before falling asleep on her stomach. She stayed awake a while longer, looking between the pair, allowing a smile that dominated her face.

Kaoru was awake just long enough to see that heartfelt smile, so full of adoration… and gratitude? for something he couldn’t figure out. Kaoru saw her hand in Hikaru’s hair before he passed out again.


End file.
